In this engaging, convenient book, the physician behind The Atlantic's video series with the same title presents a host of queries about the human body and briefly discusses the answers. Drawing on his medical training and interviews with other physicians and biological scientists, author James Hamblin provides information, counters misinformation, critiques health-related marketing, and bemoans the effects of money and politics on health policy. Whether you're looking for specific answers or want an informative and thought-provoking overview of health issues, If Our Bodies Could Talk offers a one-stop resource.

Pediatrician Jane Scott has lived in several parts of the world besides the U.S., so she's been able to observe parenting styles in a variety of cultures. In The Confident Parent, Scott addresses the anxieties of American parents, who feel the pressures of time and of overwhelming, often conflicting, advice from peers and experts. Referring to what she learned both in her medical training and in her life as a parent and grandparent, she offers research-based guidance on child-rearing issues. She also counsels parents to care for themselves as well as their children and to have confidence in their instincts.

According to biochemist Sylvia Tara, fat is the least-understood organ in our bodies, which may explain why, though we're spending billions of dollars on the war on fat, we're fighting a losing battle. In this well-researched book, Tara explains how fat works, providing fascinating scientific explanations of its biochemistry, its influence on the rest of the body, and why some people stay slim while others gain weight easily. Whether your body type runs more to Sumo wrestler or to supermodel, you'll find The Secret Life of Fat revealing.

While awareness of our breathing is an important aspect of meditation practice, clinical psychologist Belisa Vranich argues that it's also essential to good physical and psychological health. In addition to explaining point-by-point the physiology of breathing -- and why we should breathe better -- she provides illustrated exercises in a two-week workbook that allows the average "underbreather" to learn better technique, banish stress, and feel better. We all know that oxygen is essential to life; now we can truly take advantage of its healing power.

Parents whose newborn must be placed in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) can find the experience bewildering, at best. This practical, accessible guide published by the American Academy of Pediatrics presents detailed information about the reasons infants need to be in the NICU and the unit's purposes (life support, testing, intensive nursing, special medical treatments, etc.). Accounts of 14 families whose children spent weeks or months in the NICU offer examples (illustrated with photographs) that new parents can easily understand. The book also discusses ways to cope with a baby's death -- which happens all too often. This is an outstanding resource for NICU parents and for their close families.

Incapacitated at age 34 by a virus that wreaked havoc on her nervous system, author Elisabeth Tova Bailey was almost completely immobilized and had to rely on a caregiver and friends for everything. After someone brought her a wild snail with some flowers in a pot, Bailey became fascinated with its activities and found that observing it gave her a new purpose in her extremely circumscribed life. In The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, she relates details of her illness, but keeps her focus on the snail, adding scientific information about mollusks that she learned after she got better. Kirkus Reviews calls this memoir a "charming, delicate meditation on the meaning of life."

After former military counterintelligence officer Terry Henry and his 12-year-old daughter saw what their golden retriever had to offer residents of a nursing home, they started a service dog organization to provide people in need of healing with assistance dogs. A Dog's Gift describes how they founded paws4people.org, details their training methods, and relates moving stories about matching the dogs with their new owners. This uplifting tale also relates how Henry found his own healing from PTSD through his paws4people work. Both dog-lovers and people-lovers will find inspiration here.

In Thunder Dog, author Michael Hingson relates how he grew up blind and learned to rely on guide dogs, providing details about how he gets along in the world. In this engaging and inspiring memoir, he also shares how, on September 11, 2001, he was at work on the 78th floor of the World Trade Center when a terrorist-flown airliner crashed into it. Hingson's guide dog Roselle proved her worth as the pair walked down 1,463 stairs in the collapsing skyscraper, helping others remain calm during the ordeal. This book offers an absorbing account of the guide dog's essential role in Hingson's life, woven into the harrowing chronicle of 9/11.

Daisy the Labrador retriever lived five days a week in a prison, where she was a pupil in the National Education for Assistance Dog Services program, which employs prison inmates as dog trainers. On weekends, Daisy went to live with journalist Sharron Luttrell, who volunteered to help with the dog's accommodation to life in the "real world." Keith, Daisy's trainer in the prison, and Sharron often consulted about training matters, and Sharron's family played a big role in Daisy's life at their house. Weekends with Daisy offers an inspiring and lively account of assistance dogs and the lives of their humans -- both in and out of prison.

Comet's Tale relates how macho, workaholic attorney Steven Wolf refused to admit that his spinal condition significantly impaired his ability to work, until his law firm forced him to resign. Moreover, Wolf's attitude angered his wife, who wanted a separation. When Wolf moved alone to Arizona for its warm winter climate, loneliness and depression magnified his physical pain. Then he learned about greyhound rescue and adopted -- or was adopted by -- Comet, who began helping him with simple tasks. Wolf trained her to be his service dog, and their relationship healed both his psychological state and his marriage. Booklist calls this a "wonderful salute to the power of man's best friend."